The soft, warm-yellow light suffused this small space. Jiang Yuan lowered her head and her gaze fell on the boy's hand tightly clutching hers.
He was holding on so tightly. His fingers were long and bony. During this physical contact, she could clearly feel the warmth of Chi Xu's palm.
Even in a deep slumber, he still couldn't let go. He still missed her so much.
Jiang Yuan let out a silent chuckle, her clear pupils filled with tenderness.
The soaked cotton in her chest seemed to be evaporating quickly, and it didn't feel so stuffy anymore.
She carefully pried open Chi Xu's fingers. As soon as she managed to pry one finger away, it immediately pressed back.
In his sleep, he murmured silently, "Don't leave... okay?"
At that moment, Jiang Yuan couldn't quite put her finger on how she felt. If she hadn't been so sharp-tongued towards Chi Xu last Saturday, would he not be so helpless and pitiful like today?
He should be high-spirited.
Jiang Yuan's eyes were slightly moist. She bent down and gently stroked the sleeping boy's face.
Maybe it was because he had a fever. His face was hotter and redder than usual. His thick, long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his eyes were tightly closed in his sleep.
Jiang Yuan stared at him for a long time. Finally, she slowly planted a kiss as light as a feather on his forehead, and he remained completely unaware.
"Get better soon, Chi Xu," she whispered softly.
Maybe it really worked. Chi Xu's tightly closed eyes began to relax, and the hand that was clutching hers also loosened its grip.
Jiang Yuan gave a little tug and smoothly pulled her hand back.
The room was filled with a warm-yellow glow. The curtains were tightly drawn, and the air was a bit stuffy.
Jiang Yuan got up to draw the curtains and opened a crack for some fresh air.
On her way back, she passed by the desk and accidentally knocked over the photo album on it. It fell to the ground with a clatter, revealing the photos inside.
Jiang Yuan looked down, stunned. Her eyes slowly widened in surprise.
One of the photos that was exposed was taken on the day of the 100-day oath-taking ceremony in her junior high school. In the photo, she was boredly staring at the school leaders' speech.
She had no idea where this photo came from.
Jiang Yuan squatted down, pursed her lips, and quickly glanced at the sleeping Chi Xu, looking as guilty as a thief.
"Chi Xu, I... I just wanted to pick it up for you. I definitely didn't mean to snoop," she thought to herself.
"No, these are all my photos. Why can't I look at them?"
Jiang Yuan murmured to herself to boost her courage and then directly opened the first page.
There were no photos on the first page, only a line of elegant handwriting.
"Yuan, may Jiang Yuan be safe and happy every year."
The date at the bottom...
Jiang Yuan roughly calculated. It was about nine or ten years ago. Wasn't that when she was in the third grade?
Huh? This dog of a man fell for her so early?
Could it be that it was that one time when Chi Xu saved her that he had his first crush?
What Chi Xu said was true. He liked her, and only her from beginning to end.
A sweet and sour feeling welled up in her heart. The person on the bed was very quiet.
Jiang Yuan sent a message to Jia Fang, asking when he would arrive. Jia Fang said he was on his way and would be there soon.
She put down her phone and took advantage of this gap to look through the photo album.
The first photo was taken in the hospital.
At that time, Chi Xu had protected her and was beaten by the hooligans around the primary school. After they were rescued, they were rushed to the hospital. She had cried like a mess.
Chi Xu took this photo on the spot.
Jiang Yuan vaguely remembered that she had been really angry after Chi Xu took the photo and had ignored him for several days.
Who asked him to take such an ugly photo of her?
But this ugly photo was placed at the very front of the entire photo album.
Jiang Yuan continued to flip through.
The second photo showed her sitting in the classroom doing her homework. While the other students around were laughing and playing, she was quietly and obediently doing her homework.
She had no memory of this at all and didn't know how Chi Xu had managed to take this candid shot.
At such a young age, he was bold enough to bring his phone to school.
She sighed. It was because no one was there to discipline him. Unlike her, her parents had been very strict about her phone use. So during her free time, she had to go to the library to read novels.
The third photo was taken half a year later. The school had held a sports meet, and she had signed up for the 400-meter race. She had come in last place, and her friends had all come over to comfort her.
At that time, Chi Xu had still been very sarcastic. He had said without mercy that people should have some self-awareness and not force themselves to do things that weren't worth it.
This had made her so angry that she had chased Chi Xu around the track. She had run two full laps in one go, even faster than the first-place finisher in the second group of the 400-meter race.
Her friends had been stunned.
After she had finally caught up with Chi Xu, she had punched him angrily to vent her anger, but Chi Xu had just laughed, laughing recklessly, and said,
"Look, you can do it, right?"
The photo that Chi Xu had taken showed her running the 400-meter race. Her movements were agile, but she looked a bit disheveled and out of breath.
There was also a fourth, fifth, sixth...
The first time she had scored full marks in math, the first time she had performed on stage with her friends on Children's Day, the moment she had found out her primary-to-junior-high school entrance exam results and had been overjoyed, the way she had looked after getting tanned during junior high school military training...
Bit by bit, it turned out that Chi Xu had occupied most of her childhood.
Almost all of her happy, joyful, sad, and aggrieved moments were related to Chi Xu, and he had recorded them all.
Chi Xu had selected the photos with commemorative value, printed them out, and then collected them in this photo album.
The photo album had abruptly ended the year she had finished junior high school. It was completely blank after that.
Chi Xu had also left without saying goodbye that year, leaving nothing behind.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Jiang Yuan's vision was blurred, and her eyes were red. With a gentle blink, big teardrops fell heavily on the photo album.
Jiang Yuan completely collapsed on the ground, propping her hand on the corner of the bed. A helpless sob escaped from her throat. "Chi Xu, it turns out that you've always been thinking about me. You've always kept this photo album well, and I didn't even know anything about it."
"If it weren't for Jiao Jiao deliberately knocking over the cat food bowl, I wouldn't have come and found out that you had a fever. I definitely wouldn't have found this photo album in your room."
"Why couldn't you just talk to me properly? Why didn't I know anything?"
Jiao Jiao jumped off the bed worriedly and walked over to Jiang Yuan. It rubbed its soft head against her, as if telling her not to be sad anymore. "I'll be here with you, sister."
Jiang Yuan hugged Jiao Jiao tightly and buried her face in its head, soaking up this brief warmth.
Jiao Jiao didn't struggle. It just quietly let Jiang Yuan hug it, like a quiet little doll.
Three years was enough to change a lot. She had changed and was no longer the same as before. Chi Xu had also changed and was different from before.
The only thing that had remained unchanged between the two of them was the beating of their hearts for each other.